Mick fuses elements of classic rock, old school heavy metal, early punk/hardcore and underground doom metal into a style that is all his own. He plays guitar for the Los Angeles based heavy rock band My Ruin (fronted by his wife/female roar trailblazer, Tairrie B Murphy) as well as the ‘70s/’80s cover band Chevy Metal (lead by Foo Fighters drum wiz Taylor Hawkins).

Mick’s connection, fixation and obsession with the electric guitar began at a young age in his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee back in the ‘70s. His older brother’s record collection made a huge impact on him as he constantly listened to rock music all throughout his young life. He got his first guitar at age 12 and started playing in bands soon after that. People in the area started taking notice of his abilities in 1987 when he won the local “guitar wars” at the age of 16 (and again at 18).

By the early ‘90s, Mick was playing a lot of shows and developing a regional following in the southeast with the Knoxville based hybrid metal band Hypertribe. After a west coast run in March 1995, the band decided to relocate. In early ’96 they moved to Hollywood and changed the band name to Movement. In 1999, after many struggles, adventures, bar gigs and a nearly signed record deal gone wrong, Movement amicably called it quits.

In early 2000, Mick met vocalist Tairrie B (Manhole/Tura Satana/My Ruin) and the two immediately hit it off on both a romantic and musical level (they got married in 2008). Mick joined My Ruin and the band recorded the super heavy “A Prayer Under Pressure Of Violent Anguish” soon after. Mick has since co-written, co-produced and toured seven albums with the band to date including their most recent rocker, “The Sacred Mood”, which was released in June 2013.

Sometime in 2003, Mick started recording instrumental songs just for fun and named the project Neanderthal. The material focuses on riffs, changes, solos, old school heaviness, energy and intensity. In 2006 he self released the first Neanderthal full length album “Start A Fire With Rock”. Fast forward to 2013 and we see the sixth self release from the project, the 6 song EP “Hangtime”, still rocking in the same spirit that fired it up 10 years ago.

In June 2006 while touring with My Ruin, Mick became an artist on the Laney Amps roster alongside metal god Tony Iommi. He started out using the VH100R model but has since switched to the Ironheart.

In their 2007 40th anniversary issue, Guitar Player Magazine included Mick on their list of the “40 Most Underrated Guitarists of the Past 40 Years” for his work with My Ruin and their chief editor Michael Molenda nicknamed him “Master of Heaviosity”.

Over the course of 2012, Mick started doing more session work and ended up working with composer Stephen Barton for season 1 of the Disney XD animated series Motorcity. The action packed show features many scenes where fast and heavy music provides the audio backdrop. Most of the guitar for those bits was played by Mick.

In early 2013, Mick joined forces with drum legend Reed Mullin (Corrosion of Conformity) for a proto-hardcore tinged project called Teenage Time Killers. The album features different metal, hardcore and punk rock vocalists with the majority of the music written by Mullin & Murphy. Some of the vocal guests include Randy Blythe, Neil Fallon, Lee Ving, Jello Biafra, Phil Rind, Clifford Densmore, Pete Stahl, Matt Skiba & Tairrie B Murphy along with many more.The record will be released some time in 2014.

Around April 2013, Mick joined Taylor Hawkins “suped up” classic rock cover band Chevy Metal which led to sharing the stage with various big name rockers such as Dave Grohl, Perry Farrell, Joan Jett and Nikki Sixx. The band has gigged all the way form Oklahoma City to Santiago, Chile. An original project has sprung from the cover band as well in the form of The Birds Of Satan which is Hawkins’ new prog rock side band. An EP is set to be released in the very near future and features a 9 and a half minute song co-written by Hawkins, Grohl and Murphy.

During July 2013, GJ2 Guitars by Grover Jackson made Mick one of their artists. On Mick and Grover’s shared birthday of July 17th, Grover and business partner Jon Gold gave him the prototype of the “Spirit of 79” Glendora guitar at a Chevy Metal gig at The House Of Blues in Anaheim. He is playing the Glendora and Concorde models.

credits

released 17 December 2013

=PRESS QUOTES about NEANDERTHAL=

"One of today’s most electrifying players, master of heaviosity - Mick Murphy mutates his love for 70's hard rock and 80's punk into a modern goulash of gargantuan, Sabbath approved riffing."
-Michael Molenda-Editor in Chief / GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINE
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3.Mick Murphy - My Ruin, Chevy Metal
"This talented, multi - instrumentalist and songwriter, for the LA based rock/metal band My Ruin (featuring Murphy's wife of a decade, Tairrie B) is a guitar virtuoso that is one of LA's best-kept secrets in terms of shredders. He is not afraid about being in a now guitar centric rock band, with fuzzy distorted rhythms and riffs as thick as his sideburns. Murphy's talent with a guitar is evident once you seem him live, in often-cathartic performances. His influences are worn on his sleeve and often shirt, and consist of everything from punk, classic rock, hard rock and stoner metal. Murphy's true talent can be heard and seen in My Ruin, where his approach has added more of a old school rock based, doomy, classic metal sound to Mrs. Murphy's lyrics. In a 2009 article, Guitar Player Magazine wrote that Murphy is "One of the most ferocious and creative hard rock guitarists you'll ever hear underground, above ground or bouncing off satellites." Aside from being a song writer and the guitarist of My Ruin, Murphy also lends his guitar playing abilities to the 70s hard rock/metal cover band, Chevy Metal, featuring Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters. "
– Alex Distefano | OC WEEKLY Top 10 Metal Guitarists 2013
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“Each song is a brutal slab of finely crafted mayhem, featuring stellar guitar work from Mick Murphy.”
-Brett Callwood / METAL EDGE MAGAZINE
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“Mick Murphy is one of the most muscular riff forgers alive.”
-Greg Burke / LA WEEKLY
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"There are elements of thrash and old school metal at the core, with a hint of bluesy stoner vibe mixed in. There’s raw and dirty Southern fried solo work from Mick Murphy skillfully restrained and never resorting to fret—wank frippery; in between, harmonic pinches and lead flourishes add movement and dynamics to the My Ruin sonic juggernaut, one man easily fills the space that two lesser guitarists might cover between them."
-Paul Graham Raven / THE DREADED PRESS
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“Mick Murphy is definitely his own man on stage and quickly makes his unique presence known from the start. Murphy shreds and rips his way through the set leaving the crowd in awe and well deserving of those three words written on the shirt I purchased at the bands merch booth after the show with his likeness—Master of Heaviosity.”
-Nell Mallard / HOT PRESS MAGAZINE
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“The guy that Guitar Player called ‘one of rocks most under-rated guitarists’, Mick Murphy through the entire set, rummaging through his impressive set of chops and solos to create a tapestry of sonic fury. Like a painter that utilizes various brushstrokes to achieve his vision. Murphy cranks out one riff after another going from wah drench heaviness to nimble hummingbird fast solos.”
-Morley Seaver / BELLA ONLINE
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“There’s an interesting new tone, a tremendous solo, or a different groove everywhere you turn. Album littered with bitchin’ riffs, heavy tones and blazing solos.”
-Matt Blackett /GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINE
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“Mr Murphy is one heck of a mutha of a player. This isn't just case of bored guitar syndrome, with Joe Guitarist looking for an excuse to solo. But speaking of solos, Murph can do that with little problem he tries to burn his fingerprints off with some laser beam shredding"
-Morley Seaver / ANTI MUSIC
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“One of the most ferocious and creative hard rock guitarists you’ll hear underground, above ground or bouncing off satellites.”
-Michael Molenda - Editor in Chief /GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINE
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‘Mick Murphy plays virtuoso guitar like he is fondling a lovely lady.”
-Gemma Freeman / METAL HAMMER MAGAZINE
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“Hot Randy Rhoads style guitar work.”
FHM MAGAZINE
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“Seek out Murphy and beg him for a copy of his self-produced Neanderthal CD. The instrumental project is a jaw dropping collection of supersonic solos, colossal rhythm punctuations and fat ass licks. Trust me, if you name-check Murphy to your buddies, you’ll get all the cheese you deserve for turning them on to this emerging guitar hero.”
-Michael Molenda – Editor in Chief /GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINE
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“Mick Murphy churns out the fuzz-laced sound like a young Iommi.”
-Joshua Sindell / KERRANG MAGAZINE